This blog is the personal blog of, and authored by, Colleen Grove. It was created with the intention of sharing recipes, advice, tips and ideas with like minded readers on the web. This is a family blog with family appropriate content.

There may sometimes be guest posts written by other bloggers with the same interests but these posts will be clearly defined as guest posts. The topics on this blog may sometimes be home and family related but will mostly (at least 90% of the time) cover food related topics….anything that Colleen cooks or bakes in her home kitchen which she believes is of interest and worth sharing with readers on this blog.

Photographs will usually accompany all blog posts as the author believes that the eyes feast first! All photographs that appear on the blog will be taken by the author herself (unless otherwise stipulated) using a Canon Powershot SX20Is or Canon EOS 1100D. All recipes that appear on the blog will be tested and tried by the author and tasted by family and friends who share her food or baked goods in her home. Wherever possible all recipes are edited and checked for typing errors before posting.

The author may sometimes post restaurant, book, event or product reviews. The opinions stated are those of the author only. If products have been supplied free of charge to the author these will be declared in the relevant blog posts. The expressed opinion of said products, books, events or restaurants in relevant blog posts are, however, the honest and personal opinions and views of the author. She will not, under any circumstances, accept payment to write positively about products that she feels negatively about. These products will be discussed with the relevant companies or businesses and will not appear on the blog.

Comments written by readers in the comments sections are the opinions of others!

COLLEEN GROVE:

This be me!

“I am just me, a South African living in the beautiful little seaside town of Fish Hoek which is situated on the False Bay coast (Indian Ocean) about 45km from the city centre of Cape Town. I blog about my home life and the goings on in my kitchen. I am 61 years old, an imperfect Christian with Jesus as my role model and I try to glorify Him in what I do, I am fun-loving with a good sense of humour, fairly easy going, very loving & compassionate, a nurturer by nature, a nursing sister & midwife in a long ago career life, married to the man I love for almost 36 years now. We share 3 adult children, I am grandmama to gorgeous Tyler & Jayden, I love animals and currently have Tasha the hound sharing my living space and life, sometimes even my bed, especially when winter arrives!

I am a lover of anything food related, enjoying baking, preserving & cooking, trying out new recipes, I mostly never stick to a recipe but am always testing (I call it pimping) and tasting! At the grand old age that I am at now I am discovering new foods that I love, like prawns (sue me, I was never adventurous before!), sushi, squid just to name a few! I stop though at eating bugs of any kind (well…..I guess prawns COULD pass for bugs but I stop there!) and offal. I am a food blog addict, started reading and lurking on food blogs in 2002 and started my first blog, Kitchen Diary (which I still maintain now and again) on the South African blogging platform food24.com, in July 2008, never thinking of the far reaching effect it would have on my life.

At the end of 2009 I took the plunge and organized the first ever South African Food Bloggers Conference which took place in Cape Town in March 2010 and which was a dizzy success. The South African Food and Wine Blogger Indaba followed that in February 2011, June 2012 and February 2014. God willing, more Indaba’s will follow. It is such an honor & privilege to be involved with a community of like minded, passionate and fabulous people. Blogging has opened up a whole new world to me and I am embracing it with wide open arms and eyes. Blogging led to me winning a couple of competitions with my recipes and this in turn led to me being given a contract with ClemenGold to do some product development for them during the latter half of 2011. Did I mention you are never too old to learn new things? It has become my mantra! And pushing the boundaries to your comfort zone can be quite thrilling and challenging!

I believe that a sense of humor is essential to living a happy life and this will show in my writing and I hope it will help you as much as it helps me. Feel free to interact with me. I welcome comments and constructive criticism!

Welcome to my world…….enjoying brownies is optional, tasting life is imperative!”

Just discovered your site and will keep checking, I have duck at home and can’t wait to try your Mandarin Duck Breast Verlaque with Citrus Ginger Soy Glaze. I am also curious to find out of about the name Verlaque. My great aunt was married to a Verlaque in the Seychelles and then moved on to the UK.

Thank you Claire. Always good to welcome new visitors. Much appreciate your comment. If you would like to know more about the Verlaque name I could put you in touch with the lady who owns the company. Just drop me a line to my email address collywolly50(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk and give me yours then I can put you in touch with her. Thanx and let me know how the duck breasts turn out.

I have been following you on Twitter for a while but have only met your blog now. It’s gorgeous. I have subscribed and will be having a proper look through the RSS feed for recipes to try. Right now my favourites seem to be the Mediterranean Stuffed Squid and the Lamb Kleftiko. Mmmmmmmmm. The lamb would be perfect for Easter… I might just give it a try.

Hi there Caylee. Welcome to my blog! And thank you so much for your lovely comment. I truly appreciate the feedback and love interacting with my readers. So glad that you like what you see. I will be popping over to visit you as well now that I am finding more time to do a bit of blog browsing again. FBI has been taking up all of my time up to now! Enjoy the recipes. The Kleftiko is an awesome recipe for sure and perfect for easter. I am going to make it again with a whole leg for Easter Sunday xx

Hi Colleen–didn’t know where else to put this, so I stuck it on your About page. Thanks so much again for the Kleftike recipe! I am sorry you don’t have access to the giant couscous–I only learned of it a few years ago at a potluck and am absolutely addicted. If curiosity ever gets the best of you, I’d be willing to mail you a packet/box as a thank you..kleftiko recipes were kind of hard to find!

Hi Cat, how absolutely super of you to come back and do this. I so appreciate it and am so happy that you liked the Kleftiko recipe. I would absolutely love to try the giant couscous! Will send you an email. Have a great weekend xx

Hi Sandi, thank you so much for that lovely compliment. This (browniegirl) is my “new” blog. The original one where I started blogging 3 years ago is Kitchen Diary and you can find it at http://blogs.food24.com/kitchendiary Thank you for the good wishes. xx

hi just discovered your blog and it looks so great!!
i see you like Nomu, check out a friend’s homemade video about the hot chocolate – but be warned, have some ready to make, as you’ll want some after watching!!
please copy and paste into your browserhttp://vimeo.com/26963080
thanks and keep up the great work!!

Colleen,
Great blog site!
Thank you for your comments on Global Mysteries about Cape Town. I agree with you. Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and certainly is one of the greatest tourist attractions, as well as a lovely place to live. I saw this first hand when we visited your city. However, like New Orleans, one of my favorite U.S. cities, it is named on most lists of the the 10 most dangerous cities in the world. Simply do a search for the most dangerous cities in the world and you will find it. I believe its beauty and culture trump its dangerous areas in the minds of tourists. In the Paris metro, I barely missed having my wallet stolen right out of my fanny pack. This unfortunate incident doesn’t even figure in my decision to revisit Paris. When visiting any cosmopolitan city (New York, Paris, London, Cape Town) tourists need to be alert.
I look forward to visiting Cape Town again in the near future. I could never get enough of your wonderful city and its fascinating history. I’d love for you to share your personal views of Cape Town.

Thank you for your visit to my blog Nancy and for commenting. I know all the good and bad about my beautiful country. Just find it difficult to believe that it is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. We are in agreement though that it is one of the most beautiful and very glad to hear how much you enjoy it and look forward to visiting it again. Have a great Christmas!

Hi Colleen,
Congratulations and great to see you organized a blogging conference her in SA. I would love to attend the next one…if there is a next one…so please put me on the list. I am a Canadian living in Cape Town blogging about food and sustainability so would love to connect with food bloggers here…thank you and hope to meet up soon.

I am contacting all food bloggers and other foodies in Cape Town to tell you about an exciting competition launched for our client – Rhodes Quality.

Rhodes is looking for the top home chef, who can cook up a storm with stock from his/her pantry. If contestants make it past the first stage, they might be whisked to the Rand Show to show off their skills and could win their share of R100 000 in prizes. The South African Chef’s Association will be overseeing the cook-off, and will do all the chopping and preparing of your ingredients before you cook. REAL food magazine’s editor -Nandi Twala, will be right there by your side with her cooking tips.

Hi there Johan, I am sorry if you have contacted me previously I did not see any comment. Unfortunately this is not something that I can participate in but I am happy to promote it on twitter and facebook. Thank you!

Hi Colleen, I’m putting together a food blogger list for Cape Town could you pop me your email to jakes@go4word.co.za and add your Twitter handle if you have a active account. You can find me @j8kes on Twitter if you want to get hold of me quickly.

Hi Colleen, I’m brand new to blogging and still have ridiculous amounts to learn but I am delighted to have chanced upon your fascinating and inspirational blog – I am a South African farmer, avid kitchen gardener and am happiest preparing food for family and friends – I look forward to reading more….

Hi there and let me welcome you to my humble blog and to the whole blogasphere where the world is your oyster. Thank you so much for your beautiful comment. I so appreciate it. 😉 Will be around to read your new blog asap. xx

I knew a Lewis Verlaque (ex Seychelles) both in Kenya in the sixties, and later in the UK,
Unfortunately I cannot recall the date but I know that Lewis died following a collapsed lung. He was an architect in Nairobi, also a Black belt at Judo, Private licence pilot, and Nairobi Go- Kart Champion, amongst other things. He had a pretty close likeness to Yul Brynner !,
Regards, Roger Norminton

Hey Colleen I’m really interested in your blog and would love to discuss a few recipes and opportunities with you, could you please pop me a mail so that i can also have your email address. Thanks so much

I have friends visiting South Africa from Vancouver for the first time this fall (your spring).
They will probably spend most of their time in the Cape Town area. Do you have any recommendations for wineries to visit, braai BBQ place(s), and on the beach restaurant to offer? My friends are adventurous so the more local the experience the better.

Ooooooh that Bete Noir!! Yes……that’s a fabulous cake 🙂 Thank you so much for your lovely comment Ilse, much appreciated. I have been a disappointment of late to my readers but I will remedy that now that its a new year….and a new me! Happy New Year to you 😉 xx

Hi Colleen. I love your blog and all the beautiful photography. It has inspired me to start blogging again. Will certainly be dropping by on a regular basis and trying some of your mouth watering recipes.

Hi Anneke, thank you so much for your lovely comment. I am always so happy to get positive feedback. I haven’t blogged in a while (due to some circumstances beyond my control) but your comment has inspired ME to get back into it and now is a good time seeing as it’s the start of a new year. Happy 2014 to you! xx